Bridgestone awarded best tyre brand TruckX Awards

Bridgestone is South Africa's best tyre brand for commercial vehicle. This is the news from the inaugural TruckX Awards which were announced at the TruckX Conference and Awards event in Sandton 19 August 2014.

Bridgestone stood out in the highly-competitive tyre sector as the tyre brand which delivered the highest standard of excellence. The awards, arranged by publishers Future Group and sponsored by Ctrack, also recognised achievements in other areas of logistics, including fuel supply, insurance, after-sales service and vehicle manufacturing.

“We are honoured to have been recognised in this way,” said Bridgestone COO and Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Ken Oyama. “Bridgestone is the world's largest tyre manufacturer and this award confirms the standard of our product and service across all the segments in which we operate.”

Bridgestone's South African operations have an annual turnover of nearly R5 billion and provide employment for more than 3500 people. The company's diverse variety product range includes passenger commercial, agricultural, motorcycle tyres and off-the-road products designed for construction and mining equipment. Commercial vehicle tyres are serviced mainly through Bridgestone's subsidiary company, Max-T solution outlets, as well as through direct sales and tyre management from technical sales representatives who provide advice and field support on tyre queries.

he company has a well-developed local manufacturing capability based in Port Elizabeth and Brits, and also runs an ongoing tyre testing programme to fine-tune tyre specifications for South African conditions. At the same time the company is aligned with international Bridgestone directives which include emissions reductions and a focus on more environmentally-friendly motoring. The latter has included Bridgestone South Africa's participation in the international Make Cars Green programme and the launch of several variants of the company's environmentally-advanced Ecopia tyre over the past three years. As part of the company's social citizenship, it is an ongoing contributor to a variety of good causes, including education, social welfare, road safety, healthcare and wildlife protection.

Day-to-day operations are controlled from the company's Quality Road Head Office in Isando, Johannesburg, which oversees managerial, sales, logistics and regional warehousing needs. Other satellite offices are positioned in major centres countrywide to service the retail and commercial market.

“Bridgestone is well placed to consolidate its market leadership,” commented Ken. “We will continue to support customers who demand premium levels of service and safety,” he concluded.